The organization sponsored many steam excursions and other railfan activities throughout the region, but was working towards the goal of establishing a permanent home.

Member Stephen D. Bogen purchased Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-6-2 #103 from the Sumter and Choctaw Railway in Alabama and had the engine shipped to New York on a flatcar.

Additional equipment including coaches and a caboose were purchased and excursions began operating under the name Middletown & Orange Railroad.

In 1965, ESRM began publishing the Steam Passenger Service Directory, an annual listing of tourist railroads and museums around the country.

Looking for a new home, the organization considered relocating to Ulster County, along tracks to be operated by the newly-formed Catskill Mountain Railroad.

When CMRR was forced to vacate its storage yard in Kingston, New York in 2016, the steam locomotive was moved to Phoenicia, and placed inside a new barn constructed on museum property.

[3] The Empire State Railway Museum owns a small collection of historic railroad equipment, currently none are on display to the public.